(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a waterproof connector preventing rubber from unnecessarily adhering when packing made of the rubber is molded in one body in a connector housing of the waterproof connector.
(2) Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 7 through 12 show a conventional waterproof connector.
As to the conventional waterproof connector 24 (see FIG. 11), a packing 29 made of rubber is formed in one body within a female connector housing 28 made of synthetic resin. The connector housing 28 has two main chambers (chambers for mating connectors) 30 situated in parallel each other (see FIG. 7), each of which is contiguous to a small sub-chamber 33 situated at a base 32 side of the connector housing through a step 31 (see FIG. 8). On one inner wall 35 of the sub-chamber 33, there are provided a plurality of grooves 27 for introducing rubber, each of which communicates with a peripheral groove 34 (see FIG. 9) at the back of the base 32 of the connector housing. At the peripheral groove 34 side, a print circuit board (PCB; not shown in the figure) is arranged.
At an end of the inner wall 35 of the main chamber 30 and on an inner and outer surfaces of the base 32 of the connector housing, small projections for preventing the rubber from leaking are formed in a mating direction of the connectors. Each projection 36, 37 or 38 prevents molten rubber from leaking by being closely in contact with a mold 25 (shown by an alternate long and two short dashes line in FIG. 8) for casting.
The mold 25 is inserted into the connector housing 28 in a direction of arrow E (see FIG. 8) and comes in contact with the projections 36 and 37. The mold 25 has a wavelike lip-forming portion 25a and a rectangular block portion 25b, which enters into the sub-chamber 33. At the base 32 side of the connector housing, a mold 39 for casting having a V-shaped lip-forming porion 39a that continues to the peripheral groove 34 is placed.
Heated and molten rubber is injected from a gate 40 of the mold 25 into a gap between the mold 25 and the connector housing 28, thereby the packing 29 (see FIG. 11) is formed in one body within the connector housing 28. In the main chamber 30, a packing portion 29a (see FIGS. 10 and 11) for a mating male connector (not shown in the figure) is formed. The rubber flows into the peripheral groove 34 of the base 32 side of the connector housing through the groove 27 for introducing rubber (see FIG. 8), thereby another packing portion 29b (see FIGS. 11 and 12) is formed. A male terminal (not shown in the figure) at the PCB side is formed in the connector housing 28 by press-fit or integral molding, thereby the waterproof connector 24 is completed.
However, as to the conventional waterproof connector 24 described above, when the molten rubber is introduced into the groove 27 in a direction of arrow J in FIG. 13, the rubber enters into a small gap between the mold 25 and the connector housing 28 in directions of arrow G and arrow H, resulting in a formation of an unnecessary thin layer portion 41 (see FIG. 11) or unnecessary thick layer portion 42 on an inner wall 26 of the sub-chamber 33 or the step 31. Moreover, rubber injected from an opposite gate 40' (see FIG. 11) with respect to the groove 27 enters into a small gap between the mold 25 and the connector housing 28, similarly resulting in a formation of an unnecessary thin layer portion 41 or unnecessary thick layer portion 42. The formation of these layer portions causes unnecessary material cost-up due to the increased use of an amount of the rubber. In addition, since the unnecessary rubber adheres on the inner wall 26 of the connecter housing 28 or the step 31, there is such a fear that a mating condition between this waterproof connector and the mating connector (not shown in the figure) deteriorates.
Even when projections 43 and 44 for preventing the rubber from leaking are formed at the periphery of the groove 27 for introducing rubber and the step 31 as shown in FIG. 14 in order to solve the above problem, the projection 43 extended in an inserting direction of the mold is scraped off by an edge of the rectangular block portion 25b of the mold 25 (see FIG. 8), whereby the rubber leaks out in directions of arrow G and arrow K, resulting in no solution of the problem.